Food. Filipino Food.

August 2012

August 29, 2012

I didn't know it until I started writing this particular post, but 5 years ago, I wrote about how I first learned to make the Filipino vegetable stew known as Pinakbet. In that old post, I boldly proclaimed that Pinakbet "is my most favorite food in the whole entire world times infinity!" (man, I was a wordsmith back in the day).

Fast forward 5 years and you know what? Pinakbet is STILL my most favorite food in the whole entire world times infinity! (man, I've still got it!!)

My fondness for the Filipino vegetable medley probably just stems from the stew being a part of my childhood and upbringing—it's a comfort food for me. And besides, with sweet and tangy tomatoes, bitter melon, a touch of fish sauce and a
smattering of pork belly, I love the interplay of all of the 5 tastes (sweet, sour, salty, bitter, Umami) in this dish.

Since learning how to make Pinakbet all those years ago, I estimate that I've probably made it well over 100 times (at least once a month for 5 years, plus a gajillion more times for my cookbook, you do the math).

But I've found that if you do something enough times, you start looking for different ways to make things interesting, not because you're bored or tired of the original, but just because you can. Probably kinda like how Kobe can throw up that occassional left-handed runner when there's absolutely no need to (I am by no means calling myself the "Kobe Bryant of Pinakbet Preparers." But maybe Nick Van Exel is more appropriate—my pinakbet is good and dependable, yet open to occassional fits of craziness [humblebrag]).

So that's what I did with my latest Pinakbet--I just did something a bit different for the heck of it, but with great results. This is a simple variation on the "classic" Filipino vegetable stew. And by "classic", I mean within the context of my own family. Your classic Pinakbet might contain cubes of kabocha squash, tender
okra, lima beans, and a healthy smattering of Bagoong (fermented shrimp paste). And
that's fine. But in my family, my Great Auntie Puyong (The Michael
Jordan of Pinakbet Preparers) uses just tomatoes, onions, garlic,
eggplant, bittermelon, longbeans, Lechon Kawali, and fish sauce. Simple.
Straighforward. Streamlined. Just the way I like it.

August 22, 2012

Since turning in my cookbook manuscript to my editor a few months back, things, for the most part, have been relatively quiet. As a first-time author, I'm learning that there's a lot of waiting involved in the publishing process.

But just last week, during a most furious stretch of thumb-twiddling, my editor sent me a first draft layout of my book! A first draft layout is pretty much what it sounds like: a draft version of my entire cookbook that shows how my text and photos will be arranged (i.e. the overall design and aesthetic of what the completed book will look like once it's finished).

I must say, after spending the better part of a year writing and photographing in a vacuum, it felt so good to finally see how my words and pictures are being put together by the great design team at Tuttle. I can't even express how cool everything looks and how excited I am to be working on this project. It's really starting to look like my book is coming to life. Huzzah!

But before I share a very quick peek at the shape my book is taking, I also want to mention that there's been a change of title for my cookbook as well. Wha?!!